What Is The Environment? PDF

**[What is the environment?]** Its more then just our earthy surroundings, its our biotic ( living things) and our abioitc (non-living things), our built enviroment like structures and settlements, and our social relationships and insitiutions. Its important we give caareful consideration to the me...

**[What is the environment?]** Its more then just our earthy surroundings, its our biotic ( living things) and our abioitc (non-living things), our built enviroment like structures and settlements, and our social relationships and insitiutions. Its important we give caareful consideration to the meaning of the term enviroment. Humans exists within the environment and are a part of the interations and characterize it. **Envionmental Science** Interdisciplinary, scientific and traditional knowledge, ethics, economics, polititcs, culutre and society. Its the study of : How the natural wordl works, how the enviroment affects humans, how humans effect the environment, this kknowledge is essntial in devising solutions to enviromental problems. **Ethics** the moral principle, right vs wrong **Fronteir Ethic-**assumes the earths resources are infinite, only the needs of humans are considered, has historic roots, humnas as masters of planet, deeply embedded mindest in modern civilzation. Persistis today in the \"growth at any cost\". Treats natural resources as expendable income, rather then capital. Expendale income. **Sustainable Ethics-** Treating earths resources as if they are limited and conserving them in a way that allows furture generatiosn to continue using them. **Instrumental vs Intrinsisc Value** [Instrumental value:] value of something as a means to further some end, etc a wild plant used by humans for medicinal purposes. [intrinsic value]: Value something as it is- not just its usefulness to others. **The three \" centrisms\"** Three major types of ethical perspectivies: Anthropocentrism, biocentrism, ecocentrism. **Anthropocentirc:** Focused on human needs **Biocentric** : ethical view that assigns equal value to all living things, from spispiders to humans to white-eared bats to belugas **Ecocentrism:** Moving beyond ethical considerations of just humans and life to entire [Earth System:] Broad tern for a network of of relationships among components, elements, or parts that intereact with and influenece earth other. [Cycle:] Flows of important elemenet and compounds that move substanves from one place to another within an enviromental system. [Open System:] Receives **inputs** of both energy and ,atter and produces **outputs** [Closed System:] Matter cycles among various parts if the system but does not leave or enter the system. **Geosphere:** Rock and sediment of soild eaearth, defineded by the rock cycle, not o be confused with the lithosphere. **Atmosphere:** Thin envelope of gases that surround planet, carbon is an essential component of the atmosphere for life, provides medium through whihc energy can be convenienty transferred amoung earths subsystem. **Hydrosphere**: All water on earth, frozen parts are called cryospheres, about 2/3 of freshwater is stored in the cryosphere. **Biosphere:** All the plsnetd organisms, also includes recebtly deceased and decaying organisms. **Anthroposphere:** The built and modified enviroment, also human impacts on the enviroment. [Ecology:] Study of ecosystmes within their envitoment [Ecosystem Ecology:] Study of energy and material flow amoung biotic and aboitic componenetts of systems.natural systens, more value in entire species, communities or ecosystems than welfare of any indiviual, a holisitc perspective. **Rights Of Nature** A movement that legally recongizes the intrinsic value of ecosystems, provides concerte protections and irghts. People of different cultures and with different worldviews may differ in their erthical vieew. Ethiethical standards help differentiate right from wrong across different cultures globally [Utilitarianism:] holds that someone is right when it produced the greatest practical benefits for the most people, agrues that the best way to protect enviroemnt is to demonstrate the benefits it provids to society and economy. Gross Primary Production (GPP): Comversion of solar energy to the energy of chemical bonds in biomass Respiration: Cellular process where oxygen + sugars + energy Net Primary production (NPP) = GPP- Respiration**Prologue: A swelling Planet** Most of human history only a few million populated earth at a given time, now its nearly quadrupled over the last centery (estimate 9.8 billion 2025), enviromental problems have emerged on a larger scale (globak warming, pollution, extiniction, invasise species) [Poverty-] Poorer nations feature, rapid population growth, higher birth rates, higher infant mortality rates, lower use of contraceptive. Affect population dynamics and distribution of people on earth. [Overconsumption & Inequality]- 20% of worlds population consumes 80% of resources [Natural Resources]- Substances and energysources provided by the enviroment that are econmic value, resource managment. **The IPAT Model** calculates the enviromental impact of humans on the enviroment impact of humans on the enviroment. Population (P) afffluence (A) techonolgy (T) total impact (I) **Human Activities & The Enviroment** [Ecological footprint]: measure of land/ water required to support an indivual of a species [Biocapacity:] Capactiy of natural system to be biologically productive and able to absorb waste [Carrying Capacity]: maimum population size of a species that a given enviroment can sustain Tragedy of commons: scenario of unchecked resource usage motivated by self-interest **Sustainability** guiding principle of modern enviroment management, three pillars economic enviromental social**Earth systems and ecosystems pt. 3** **The Carbon Cycle** Photosynthesis- drawdown of CO2 From atmosphere, fromation of biomass Resiration-Puttong the carbon to work, realse of CO2 to atmosphere Decomposition- Decompsers break down dead organic mateiral, relasing CO2 in the atmosphere [Autotrophs (primary producers)]- Produce their own food using the sins light energy [Photoautotrophs-] organism that turn suns energy intp chemmical energy [Heterotrophs]- an organism that cannot produce its own food and must consume other organism Energy Gradients A form of potential energy in a system due to variations in some physical property such as a temperature, pressure, posisiton. Organsims can harness these energy gradients to do work.